Papuan languages

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Spread of Papuan languages

As Papuan languages refers to several language families and isolated languages spoken in New Guinea and on some nearby islands ( Solomon Islands , Halmahera , Timor ) are common and not to the family of Austronesian languages are. The Papuan languages ​​do not represent a genetic unit , but form the remainder of the non-Austronesian languages ​​in the corresponding area. There are around 800 Papuan languages ​​with a total of around 4 million speakers.

According to current knowledge, the Papuan languages ​​can be classified into a total of 12 language families, five others are isolated languages. By far the most important Papuan language family is the Trans New Guinea macrophylum with around 530 languages ​​and 3.2 million speakers, which - as the name suggests - extends over almost all of New Guinea. Other larger families are West Papua , Geelvink Bay , Torricelli , Sepik-Ramu and East Papua .

Whether all of these languages ​​or some groups of them can be combined into larger genetic units has not yet been conclusively clarified. However, based on current knowledge , the genetic unity of all Papuan languages ​​is extremely unlikely. Especially was Joseph Greenberg's hypothetical macrofamily Indo-pacific - consisting of the Andamanese , Tasmanian and Papuan languages - rejected by most relevant researchers.

Papuan languages ​​with at least 100,000 speakers

There are only four Papuan languages ​​with at least 100,000 speakers, they all belong to the Trans New Guinea macrophylum.

  • Dani 270,000, Dani-Kwerba
  • Enga 170,000, Eastern New Guinea Highlands
  • Melpa or Hagen 130,000, East New Guinea Highlands
  • Ekari 100,000, Wissel Lakes

classification

This is followed by a classification of the language families that belong to the Papuan languages, with information on the number of languages ​​(Sp), number of speakers and geographical distribution. The web link below gives a complete overview of all 800 Papuan languages, their genetic allocation and the number of speakers.

  • Trans New Guinea macrophylum : 533 languages, 3.2 million, New Guinea ; Timor , Alor , Pantar
    • Main Trans New Guinea Branch : 294 languages, 2.6 million, New Guinea ( Irian Jaya and Papua New Guinea )
      • Central-West Trans New Guinea: 249 languages, 2.4 million, Central and West New Guinea
        • Huon-Finisterre : 63 languages, 165,000, Northeast Papua New Guinea
        • East New Guinea Highlands : 64 languages, 1.4 million, Papua New Guinea: Eastern Highlands
        • Central and South New Guinea : 57 languages, 190,000, Irian Jaya, West Papua New Guinea
        • Kutuban : three languages, 5,000, South Papua New Guinea
        • Angan : 13 languages, 95,000, Southeast Papua New Guinea
        • Gogodala-Suki : four languages, 13,000, South Papua New Guinea: Fly River
        • Kayagar : three languages, 15,000, southern Irian Jaya
        • Sentani : four languages, 37,000, Northeast Irian Jaya
        • Marind : six languages, 22,000, South Irian Jaya, Southwest Papua New Guinea
        • Dani-Kwerba : 17 languages, 340,000, north-central Irian Jaya
        • Wissel Lakes : six languages, 140,000, West Irian Jaya
        • Mairasi : four languages, 5,000, West Irian Jaya
        • West Bomberai : three languages, 7,000, West Irian Jaya
        • Dem : one language, 1,000, West Irian Jaya
        • Mor : a language, <1,000, Irian Jaya ( Northwest Bomberai )
      • Eastern Trans New Guinea: 45 languages, 170,000, Southeast Papua New Guinea
        • Binandere : ten languages, 80,000, southeast Papua New Guinea
        • Central-Southeast TNG : 35 languages, 90,000, Southeast Papua New Guinea
    • Madang-Adelbert Range : 102 languages, 85,000, North Papua New Guinea
      • Madang : 58 languages, 40,000, North Papua New Guinea: Madang
      • Adelbert Range : 44 languages, 45,000, North Papua New Guinea: Adalbert chain
    • Teberan-Pawaian : three languages, 17,000, North Papua New Guinea: Simbu
    • Turama-Kikorian three languages, 3,000, South Papua New Guinea
    • Inland Gulf : four languages, 1,000, South Papua New Guinea
    • Eleman seven languages, 50,000, South Papua New Guinea
    • Trans Fly - Bulaka : 30 languages, 45,000, Southwest Papua New Guinea, South Irian Jaya
    • Mek : seven languages, 40,000, Irian Jaya: highlands
    • Senagi two languages, 3,500, Northwest Papua New Guinea
    • Pauwasi four languages, 1,200, northwest Irian Jaya
    • Northern Trans New Guinea: 27 languages, 25,000, Northeast Irian Jaya, Northwest Papua New Guinea
    • Nimboran : five languages, 9,000, Northeast Irian Jaya
    • Kaure : five languages, 1,000, Northern Irian Jaya
    • South Vogelkop : ten languages, 11,000, Northwest Irian Jaya: South Vogelkop Peninsula
    • Kolopom three languages, 4,500, southwest Irian Jaya
    • Timor-Alor-Pantar : about 30 languages,> 250,000, Timor, Alor, Pantar, Kisar , Liran
      • Alor-Pantar-Makasai : about 28 languages, 108,000 in Timor alone, Timor, Alor, Pantar
      • Timor Kisar : two languages, about 140,000, Timor, Kisar, Liran
    • Oksapmin : one language, 8,000, Papua New Guinea, Sandaun Province, Telefomin District
    • Elseng : (Morwap) a language, 300, Irian Jaya, south of Jayapura
    • Molof : (Ampas) a language, 200, Irian Jaya, southern Jayapura
    • Usku : one language, almost †, Irian Jaya, southern Jayapura, near Pauwasi
    • Tofamna : a language, 100, Irian Jaya, south of Jayapura, east of the Nawa River
  • West Papua : 25 languages, 310,000, Halmahera; Irian Jaya: Vogelkop Peninsula
  • Ost-Vogelkop : three languages, 40,000, Irian Jaya: Vogelkop Peninsula
  • Geelvink Bay : 33 languages, 22,000, Irian Jaya: Geelvink Bay, Yapen Island
    • East Geelvink Bay : eleven languages, 8,000, eastern Geelvink Bay
    • Lakes Plain : 22 languages, 14,000, Lakes Plain
  • Sko : seven languages, 7,000, border area Irian Jaya / Papua New Guinea
  • Kwomtari-Baibai : six languages, 4,000, Papua New Guinea: West Sepik
  • Left May : (Arai) seven languages, 2,500, northwest Papua New Guinea
  • Toricelli : 47 languages, 95,000, northwest Papua New Guinea
  • Sepik-Ramu : 102 languages, 235,000, northwest and north-central Papua New Guinea
    • Sepik : 52 languages, 175,000, North Papua New Guinea: Sepik
    • Ramu : 37 languages, 45,000, Papua New Guinea: East Sepik, Madang
    • Leonhard-Schultze : six languages, 1,000, Papua New Guinea: West Sepik
    • Nor-Pondo : six languages, 12,000, Papua New Guinea: East Sepik
    • Gapun : one language, 100, Papua New Guinea: East Sepik
  • East Papua : 36 languages, 120,000, New Britain, Bougainville; Solomon Islands
  • Amto-Musan : two languages, 300, Papua New Guinea: Upper Sepik
  • Yoke-Warembori : two languages, 800, Irian Jaya: Mamberamo River

As far as we know today, isolated Papuan languages

  • Burmeso : 300 speakers, Irian Jaya: Lake Holmes
  • Busa : 300, Papua New Guinea: West Sepik
  • Yale : 600, Papua New Guinea: West Sepik
  • Karkar-Yuri : 1,100, Papua New Guinea: West Sepik
  • Kibiri : 1,100, Papua New Guinea: Gulf, Aird Hills
  • Yele : 3,750, Papua New Guinea: Louisiade Archipelago ( is counted as an East Papuan language by others )

See also

literature

General
  • William A. Foley: The Papuan Languages ​​of New Guinea. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1986. ISBN 0-521-28621-2
  • Ernst Kausen: The language families of the world. Part 2: Africa - Indo-Pacific - Australia - America. Buske, Hamburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-87548-656-8 , pp. 585-655.
  • John Lynch: Pacific Languages. An Introduction. University of Hawai'i Press, Honolulu 1998. ISBN 0-8248-1898-9
    (In addition to the Papuan languages, it also covers the Oceanic-Austronesian and Australian languages.)
  • Stephen A. Wurm: New Guinea and Neighboring Areas - A Sociolinguistic Laboratory. Mouton, The Hague 1979. ISBN 90-279-7848-4
Individual languages
  • Lorna MacDonald: A Grammar of Tauya. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1990. ISBN 3-11-012673-7
    (Also contains a lot of information on the Trans New Guinea languages ​​as a whole.)

Web links